‘He’s waiting by the car with Snowy.’
She links arms with me. ‘It’ll be lovely to see him. Now, tell me about these skeletons. It all sounds so unbelievable, doesn’t it?’
I open my mouth to speak but Mum continues, ‘I mean, as long as the police don’t go charging in there upsetting your gran with lots of questions. Let me know the name of the police officer you’re dealing with and I’ll find out exactly what they’re planning to do. I’ll …’
I can feel a headache coming on. I love her to bits, but my God she never stops talking.
I let her natter on as we walk to the car. Tom is leaning against the Mini, a bemused smile on his face that he always seems to adopt whenever Mum is around. Snowy is sniffing the ground by his feet.
‘Tom!’ Mum exclaims, running over to him and enveloping him, her jangle of bracelets almost catching his ear. He glances over her shoulder at me with raised eyebrows and I stifle a laugh.
‘Lovely to see you. Good flight?’ he says, removing himself from her embrace.
She waves a hand dismissively. ‘Cramped. I was squashed between two very large people but,’ she shrugs, ‘I’m here now. And I have to say the weather is nicer than it is in San Sebastián at the moment.’
I watch as Mum climbs inelegantly into the back seat while Tom takes her suitcase and puts it into the boot. We’ve said, with the baby coming, we should really change the car to a four-door. But with the extension, money is tight.
‘I’m excited about seeing the cottage,’ Mum says, sitting forward and holding on to the back of Tom’s seat as I drive out of the car park. ‘After I spoke to you on the phone I found the deeds and gave the solicitor a quick ring …’
Of course she did. I bet Mum was on to it the minute I ended our call. But I’m grateful I didn’t have to do it.
‘Apparently your gran bought the cottage back in March 1977 and she lived there until she rented it out in spring 1981. Then she bought the house in Bristol.’ She says all this without pausing for breath.
‘So you would have lived in the cottage for a bit?’ I ask, surprised. ‘Can you remember it?’
‘Hmm … No, not really. I would have been three when we left. But maybe seeing it again will jog my memory.’
‘Well, it’s a bit old-fashioned inside,’ I explain. ‘Especially the kitchen, although Tom’s making excellent progress on the rest.’ I flash Tom a smile. ‘Unfortunately the spare room still has bright yellow walls.’
Mum laughs. ‘That will suit me down to the ground. So tell me more about your gran.’
I glance at Mum in the rear-view mirror. She’s taken her hat off and her dark brown eyes are bright with excitement, but there’s something else too, a pain that she’s trying to hide. I wonder what’s really going on with her and Alberto. I always get the sense that my mother is running away.
I open my mouth to speak, hoping I’m not interrupted this time. ‘I had a call from a detective last night. A DS Matthew Barnes. He sounded nice enough but he said he’s spoken to the manager of the care home, Joy. She advised the police that it would be better for Gran to be interviewed at Elm Brook, a place where she feels safe. And that either you or I should be there too. They deem that she’s able enough mentally to be interviewed because she has some lucid moments and seems to remember a lot from the past so it might be helpful.’
‘I’ll come too,’ she insists.
‘Okay, great. Um … how long are you planning on staying? What about work?’
Mum makes a phut noise through her mouth. ‘I’ve taken a week off. I think this would be classed as extenuating circumstances, don’t you?’